Sheryl Sandberg Says an MBA Doesn't Matter in Tech
bloomberg.com
Sheryl Sandberg Says an MBA Doesn't Matter in Tech
1–10 of 139 posts
Re: Sheryl Sandberg Says an MBA Doesn't Matter in Tech
#2I'm in startup tech, I have an MBA, and I agree. The qualification itself is largely irrelevant.
More to the point, most of what I was taught in my MBA course is irrelevant to a bootstrapping startup using Lean/Customer Development methods.
Re: Sheryl Sandberg Says an MBA Doesn't Matter in Tech
#3I wonder if she would still become COO of Facebook without Harvard MBA and all the oportunities resulted from it.
MBA is probably really not necessary, but if you have the oportunity to do one on a top school, it may open some doors and expand your network. At least it has no negative effects (if you can efford it).
Especially if you have technical background and want to move to management position. It simply diversifies your background and strengthens signaling.
Re: Sheryl Sandberg Says an MBA Doesn't Matter in Tech
#4To be honest, you don't need MBA in management too.
Re: Sheryl Sandberg Says an MBA Doesn't Matter in Tech
#5>> "Sandberg suggested a career in tech might not even be necessary to catch Facebook’s attention. “We don't look for a specific background or skill-set when we make hiring decisions,” she wrote. “As my friend and Instagram COO Marne Levine says, we hire athletes and cross-train them.”
So how does one interpret this? It sounds like she doesn't really have a good idea as to what makes a great employee, and falls back to magic catch phrases, altough this is probably an industry (actually multiple industries) wide problem currently (How to identify a great employee a-priori).
So if she doesn't really know what makes for great employees, is her advice about MBA's really relevant then?
IMHO yes MBA's have a bad rap, but just like everything the knowledge you gain from a MBA program can open your mind to thinking about problems in a whole different way. A lot of techies have no concept of how the business side of the industry works, and it would not be a bad thing to understand it. But you can also gain that awareness from a couple of good books on the subject, not just from attending a MBA.
Just for completeness the other advantage of a MBA is the network, which is another discussion. (Of value for the person, not necessarily for the business, which is the point of the article)
Re: Sheryl Sandberg Says an MBA Doesn't Matter in Tech
#6>> "Sandberg suggested a career in tech might not even be necessary to catch Facebook’s attention. “We don't look for a specific background or skill-set when we make hiring decisions,” she wrote. “As my friend and Instagram COO Marne Levine says, we hire athletes and cross-train them.” So how does one interpret this? It sounds like she doesn't really have a good idea as to what makes a great employee, and falls back…
I interpret this as "Sandberg has no clue what cross-training is".
Re: Sheryl Sandberg Says an MBA Doesn't Matter in Tech
#7I'm in startup tech, I have an MBA, and I agree. The qualification itself is largely irrelevant. More to the point, most of what I was taught in my MBA course is irrelevant to a bootstrapping startup using Lean/Customer Development methods.
ehh... MBAs are pretty useful when you raise ridiculous later stage round and need to justify a high burn rate so you hire a team of them....
The MBA could be useful but most MBA curriculums have not adjusted to the speed of firm development in the startup space. the degree needs a 21st century revamp.
Re: Sheryl Sandberg Says an MBA Doesn't Matter in Tech
#8I wonder if she would still become COO of Facebook without Harvard MBA and all the oportunities resulted from it. MBA is probably really not necessary, but if you have the oportunity to do one on a top school, it may open some doors and expand your network. At least it has no negative effects (if you can efford it). Especially if you have technical background and want to move to management position. It simply diversi…
> At least it has no negative effects...
That's debatable. https://www.quora.com/Why-are-MBAs-looked-down-upon-in-Silic...
Re: Sheryl Sandberg Says an MBA Doesn't Matter in Tech
#9>> "Sandberg suggested a career in tech might not even be necessary to catch Facebook’s attention. “We don't look for a specific background or skill-set when we make hiring decisions,” she wrote. “As my friend and Instagram COO Marne Levine says, we hire athletes and cross-train them.” So how does one interpret this? It sounds like she doesn't really have a good idea as to what makes a great employee, and falls back…
> ..the other advantage of a MBA is the network...
This may be true for a small number of top-ranked business schools (and even then it's debatable) but not for the vast majority of educational institutions offering MBA degrees.
Re: Sheryl Sandberg Says an MBA Doesn't Matter in Tech
#10Most people with a top-tier MBA would never wanna work in tech.
Sure, it may seem interesting to be an executive in Facebook, but that is not nearly as lucrative (and interesting) as working in trades or billion dollars deals in finance.